FREE FOR ALL?
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• Now we've heard everything. After years of BR being told to become more competitive its chairman, Sir Bob Reid, now says that the only way it can compete against road transport is to make changes in the "economic playing field". In other words, he wants to force up hauliers' costs, possibly by raising VED or by road pricing.
If BR can't compete against road transport it should ask itself some fundamental questions. Can it beat road transport on flexibility? (Answer: No). Can it compete against road transport on costs? (Answer: No, except perhaps on movements above 800km and on major bulk traffic). Finally, and most importantly, do we project an image that will persuade existing road freight customers to switch allegiance? (After the closure of Speedlink? You must be kidding).
Sir Bob admits that BR cannot take on road hauliers unless "political" decisions are taken, but would a free market Tory Government take them? Given that Transport Secretary Malcolm Rifkind is falling over himself to promote rail, and given that there is an election in the offing, maybe it would.
Whatever political intrigues are going on behind closed doors, one fact cannot be dodged. If hauliers' costs are forced up by political decisions then the customer will pay for them through higher rates... and for once the road hauliers will have an unimpeachable case for increasing their rates.